Five Freebies, Plus Dirk Lohan’s Weekend Agenda

INSTANT GRATIFICATION A collection of Andy Warhol’s Polaroids from the 1970s—the basis for many of his prints and silk-screens—opens 5/10 at the Smart.

THE FIVE: FREE EDITION!

Don’t-miss picks for Wed 05.04.11 through Tue 05.10.11:

1

museumsWarhol at Work: Portrait Snapshots, 1973–86 Most of Warhol’s output was meant to be seen and gushed over, but these Polaroids were simply meant to be research. Lucky for us—and thanks to a gift through the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts—we get to eyeball them anyway.GO:5/10–8/21. Open Tue–Wed, Fri 10–4; Thu 10–8; Sat–Sun 11–5. Smart Museum of Art, U of C, 5550 S Greenwood. smartmuseum.uchicago.edu

2

concertsBig C Jamboree 20 Year Anniversary Don’t want to drop hundreds of bucks for one of the remaining floor seats to Neil Young? This red-hot jam session and rollicking party has drawn fans of American roots music the first Thursday of each month for the last 20 years—free every single time. Be there to help dance the hoedown’s third decade into existence.GO: 5/5–6 at 9:30. Martyrs’, 3855 N Lincoln. martyrslive.com

ALSO THIS WEEK: Dudes can draw, too! On 5/7, cities across the globe observe Free Comic Book Day and, to celebrate, Jeffrey Brown signs copies of a free commissioned mini rag at Evanston’s Comix Revolution.

5

theatre500 Clown Trapped Yes, we’re stretching a smidge. This new show—a mélange of smarty-pants slapstick, raucous postmodern vaudeville, and bruising physical comedy—from some of the high-risk adventurers at 500 Clown (alas, no Molly Brennan) isn’t free. But the ice cream social following 5/7’s matinee is. And who’s going to quibble with free ice cream? That’s what we thought.GO:5/6–21. See website for showtimes. Free ice cream after the performance 5/7 at 2. $12–$20. 500 Clown and Adventure Stage Chicago at Vittum Theater, 1012 N Noble. adventurestage.org

WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND

Dirk Lohan

Up next in our series of weekend plans from notable, in-the-know locals—a.k.a. people we like: the architect Dirk Lohan, partner and grandson of Mies van der Rohe, cofounder of the Chicago firm Lohan Anderson, and advisory board member for Chicago’s first ever Architecture & Design Film Festival, taking place this weekend.

“I haven’t made my mind up yet—there are a lot of interesting films on the schedule—but on Thursday, opening night, I am going to see How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster? That’s an intriguing question that anyone in design should want to know the answer to.

“What films, in general, stand out to me for featuring architecture? The famous one is The Fountainhead, of course. Most architects have seen it, and if they haven’t, they should get Netflix to send them a copy. That’s a great film that talks about what architects do and what dilemmas they face. Another one that comes to mind is My Architect, a very nice film that the son of Louis Kahn made about his father. Very touching, very moving.”

“What I do sometimes, if we ever have a nice weekend, is drive around town to certain neighborhoods to see new buildings, new developments. I find that there is always some discovery—something interesting I didn’t know about. I’d like to go to the Hyde Park area because there is a lot of stuff underway at the University of Chicago: the new library expansion and the [South Campus Chiller] plant by Helmut Jahn, the new schools along the Midway Plaisance. I’m not up to speed on what those look like. I live in Lincoln Park, so Hyde Park is a trip. Hopefully the sun will shine on us.”

GO:Architecture & Design Film Festival: 5/5–9. $7–$10 per screening. Most films will be shown at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N State, with some additional screenings at The Wit, 201 N State. Full schedule: adfilmfest.com